Clarity in the "available now" facet in PowerPAC for consortium libraries
When conducting a PowerPAC search using the "limit by" feature to select one's home library and combining that with the "available now" facet, the implication is that only the items at one's home library will show up. That is not the case, as available items at all consortium libraries display in the results. Although it is possible to achieve the desired results by selecting the local library under the "assigned branch" facet, this is not very intuitive for library patrons.
We would like to see the "available now" facet in PowerPAC split into two options for libraries in consortiums. One option would allow selection of available items at one's home library, and the other, for available items at any library in the consortium.
Idea Value
Splitting this facet in two would be more intuitive to PowerPAC users. The new facets could be "available now at my library" and "available now at any library". Our experience is that users do not realize that they need to take the extra step of using the "assigned branch" facet for this type of search. By eliminating that extra step, patrons can more easily get to the results they expect.
Matt Teske
shared this idea
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Emma Olmstead-Rumsey
commented
The same problem happens at multi-branch systems that are not part of a consortium. We recently conducted interviews with patrons about our PAC, and *every single one* expected the combination of the Available Now facet and the location limiter to behave the way Matt described.
I was confused by this request when I first read it, so for anyone like me who might be reading this:
Suppose my library has two branches, East Branch and West Branch. We own two copies of "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus." The copy belonging to East Branch is checked out and the copy belonging to West Branch is on the shelf.
If I search in the PAC and limit my search to "East Branch items" AND "Available now," "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" will show up in my search results even though there is not a copy on the shelf at East. "Available now" shows me all bibs that have at least one attached item in "In" status, and "East Branch" shows me all bibs that have at least one attached item assigned to East Branch.
This search setup is the number one complaint I get about our OPAC.